(WXMI) — On Tuesday, February 6th Cedar Springs was hosting Wayland in what was your normal mid-week junior varsity basketball game. Parents cheering from the stands, players scoring on the floor. Suddenly, it became a life-and-death situation. One man, in the right place at the right time, leading to a bond that will no doubt last a lifetime.
Off-duty Dorr Township firefighter and Wayland police officer Jon Schaefer was in Cedar Springs that night to watch his granddaughter play. Don Plugge has been a high school basketball official for 10 years. Suddenly, complete strangers, their worlds collided.
Don Plugge went into sudden cardiac arrest.
"Right before the incident happened, I felt super light-headed," Plugge said. "Then I dropped. I don't remember much."
Schaefer jumped into action starting CPR. Cedar Springs High School is equipped with AEDs. One was located near the gym.
"The world slows down. All kinds of stuff happens when that happens,” Schaefer said.
Don Plugge was rushed to the hospital, he had surgery a week later and was released. A full recovery wouldn't have been possible without an important meeting.
“These people that are standing over there are my guardian angels,” Plugge said.
“It’s hard to really put into words the blessing of being used by God like that," Schaefer said.
Jon Schaefer stressed the importance of people being trained in CPR and how to use an AED to help save people's lives. Schaefer plans to hold CPR and AED training sessions in the near future.
